Elastic hat retaining device



Sept. 15, 1959 e. GEIGER 2,904,052

ELASTIC HAT RETAINING DEVICE Filed July 18, 1957 1NVENTOR. Gerald L.Gelger ATTORNEY I 2,904,052 ELASTIC HAT RETAINING DEVICE Gerald L.Geiger, Washington, D.C.

Application July 18, 1957, Serial No. 672,741 4 Claims. (Cl. 132- 57)This invention relates to a detachable elastic retaining device for menshats.

It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a hatretaining device for use upon mens hats to prevent them from beingaccidentally blown off the head of the wearer during windy and stormyweather.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a hat retainingdevice that can be detachably attached to the sweat band of the hat bysimply sliding the attaching pieces thereof over the edge of the sweatband, one device at each side of the hat, and the attaching piececarrying an elastic band that can be pulled down over the ear lobes tohold the hat in place upon the head.

It is another object of the invention to provide an elastic hatretaining device which has a sweat band attaching piece and an elasticband in which the attaching piece has sufficient length to extenddownwardly over the inner face of the sweat band to the full depththereof and so as to engage with the stitching that holds the sweat bandwithinthe hat thereby to support the attaching piece and the piece hasan exterior side which is shorter than the interior side and to which anelastic band is attached and where the elastic when not in use will benormally held above the lower edge of the sweat band and within the hatso that quick and ready access can be had to the elastic band to pull itdownwardly over car when needed.

It is still another object of the invention to provide an elastic hatretaining device adapted to be connected to the sweat band of a hat inwhich the attaching piece can be reversed upon the sweat band to placethe elastic band behind the sweat band when they are not neededforimmediate use and to eliminate the interference with the normal useof the hat.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an elastic hatretaining device which can be simply formed as by folding of sheetplastic material, metal or the like by a continuous die process, cuttingthe pieces therefrom, and the elastic bandassembled upon the attachingpiece by a'siniple operation .of forcing the elastic band into a throughopening on the attaching piece so as to depend therefrom and to providefor a spacing of the elastic along the side of the sweat band and toprovide for connection of the band to the hat forwardly and rearwardlyof the ear and so that it can be held tightly thereover, and wherein ifa different adjustment of the band. upon the ear is desired to have theelastic band spaced less on the hat the elastic band can be insertedwithin parallel slits spaced inwardly from the opposite ends of thepiece, and the band extended through only a portion of its opening inthe attaching piece and perhaps afiford a more comfortable connection ofthe elastic ban t the Other objects of the invention are to provide anelastic hat retaining device, having the above objects in mind,

winch .is of simple construction, has a minimum number of parts,inexpensive to manufacture, suitable as a premium item, unharmful to theear, adaptable for all size hats, of pleasing apparatus, effective andeflicient in use.

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For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to thefollowing detailed description taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which Figure 1 is an illustrative view showing the elasticband of the device pulled down from the hat and extended over the ear ofthe wearer,

Fig. 2 is a perspective and collective View of the sweat band attachingpiece and of the elastic band,

Fig. 3 is a front face elevational View of one of the retaining devicesmounted on the sweat band of a hat with the elastic band withdrawn intothe hat,

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

Fig. 5 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 3 but with the elasticband stretched downwardly over an ear,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective'view of a hat with illustration madeas to the manner in which the hat retaining device is fastened to thesweat band of the hat, and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view looking into the opening in the bottom of ahat and showing the attaching piece placed on the sweat band so thattheelastic band lies inside the sweat band and for the purpose of thedevice being stored.

Referring now to the figures, 10 represents generally the hat retainingdevice of the present invention that comprises only two par-ts, anattaching piece 11 and an elastic band 12'. The attaching piece 11 isformed preferably ofresilient plastic sheet material that has a straightouter side portion 13 from the loweredge of which there extends inwardlyand upwardly a clamp portion 14. The lower edge of the outer sideportion 13 is in the form of a bead 15 with the portion 14 extendingupwardly from the inner side thereof. The bead 15 affords sufiicientresiliencyto the portion 14 to have clamping action against the outerface of the sweat band when the attachingpiece is applied thereto. Theelastic band is assembled upon the attaching piece 11 by extending itover the upper edge of the clamp portion 14 and drawing it down into athrough opening 16, afforded by the bead 15. This opening 16 preferablyis slightly less in'diameter than the diameter of the elastic band 12 sothat'the elastic band cannot readily slip therethrough. If the elasticbandis stretched to place it over the ear, it will be bentsufiicientlyoverthe ends of the bead as indicated at 17 and 18 in Fig. 3so that it will be further held against slipping when applied to ear 19.i

If it is desired to adapt the band for use upon a smaller ear or to givepossibly a better holding effect the band can he slid downwardly throughone or both parallel slits 20 and 21 in the clamping portion 14 asillustrated with broken lines 12 in Fig. 5. The upper edge of the clampportion 14 has serrations 22 so as to better grip the face of sweat band23 lying within a hat 24 and fixed to the bottom thereof by stitching 25A bend 26 is provided on the portion 13 and extending therefrom is arear clamp or clip portion 27 thatis of a length such that its loweredge 27 when the attaching piece is extended over the sweat band 23 willreach the bottom of the band to rest upon the stitching 25 thereof sothat the force of the stretched elastic band is transferred directly tothe bottom of the hat. This rear portion 27 is resiliently biased to. beurged inwardly against the inner face of the sweat band and towardspring clamp portion 14 so. that the attaching piece will be tightlyclamped to'the sweat band and held against sliding movement thereupon.To afford a better gripping action of the attaching piece with the sweatband, the clamp portion '14 is indented at 14' throughout its length toreceive with the sweat band an indentation 27" of the rear clamp portion27 and which will draw the band material against the serrations 22 ofthe clamp portion 14 to further hold r 3 eat ehi p e ea ain tqu wa d dsp a from the sweat band.

When the hat retaining device is placed upon the sweat band -withtheedge 26 resting along the stitching 25 of the sweat band to: the hat,the depending length of the front portion 13 is such that sufiicientspace 29 on the front of the hat band 23 is provided to accommodate thereleased and retracted elastic band 12 without the same appearing uponthe headand below the bottom of the hat. When in this position theelastic band ismade readily available to the wearer of the hat so thatit can be quickly and easily reached when needed and -to be pulled downover the ear, 7

At times when the retaining device is notneeded the device can be betterstored within the hat by reversing it so that the elastic band 12 willlie inside the sweat band 23 as best shown in Fig. 7. Theattaching-piece 11 maybe applied to the sweat band for use in the manner illustrated in Fig. 6 and with the edge 28 of the portion 27slightly fiared'it will slide readily over the inner face of the sweatband. The attaching piece 11 is preferably formed of sheet plasticmaterial such that the bead .15 and the bend 26 will have suflicientresiliency to afford a clamping action of the clamp portions 14 and 27upon the opposite faces of the sweat band. The attaching piece can bemade by forcing a strip of the sheet material through a shaping diewhile heated in order that a permanent set can be given to the material.The outer faces of the portions 13 and 27 may bear advertising data. Theattaching piece is light in weight and can be readily applied to andstored within the sweat band of the hat and may even have the functionof better fitting the hat to the wearer. I

With the holder being applied to each side of the sweat band the hat canbe held upon the head in very windy and stormy weather or at leastsufiiciently retained. from'blowing off the head to give the wearersulficient time to get his hand to the hat and prevent its completeremoval from the head.

While various changes may be made in the detail construction, it shallbe understood that such changes shall be within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention as defined by the. appended claims.

What is claimedis:

1. A hat retaining device comprising a sweat band attaching piece havingan outside portion with a bottom edge folded to provide a throughopening and a clamp portion depending from the upper edge adapted to fitover the sweat band and extend downwardly over the inner face thereof,an elastic band extending through the opening in the lower edge of theattaching piece and depending therefrom, said elastic band being adaptedto be stretched from the attaching piece when applied to the hat sweatband and downwardly over the ear lobe of the wearer, and an inner clampportion extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the outside portionand having parallel slits that extend downwardly from its upper edge tothe bottom of the outside portion through the bottom of which theelastic band can be slid to locate the elastic band within the openingthroughout a short distance thereof whereby the elastic band can beadjusted for a different gripping action upon the ear of the wearer.

2. A hat retaining device comprising a sweat band attaching piece havingan outside portion with a bottom edge foldedto provide a through openingand a clamp portion depending from the upper edge adapted to fit overthe sweat band and extend downwardly over the inner face thereof, anelastic band' extending through the opening in the lower edge of theattaching piece and depending therefrom, said elastic band being adaptedto be stretched fromthe attaching piece when applied to the hat sweatband and downwardly over the ear lobe of the wearer, and an inner clampportion extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the ontside portionand having parallel slits that extend downwardly from its upper edge tothe bottom of the outside portion through the bottom of which theelastic band can be slid to locate the elastic band within the openingthroughout a short distance thereof whereby the elastic band can beadjusted for a different gripping action upon the ear of the wearer, andsaid clamping portion having inner and outer clamp portions resilientlybiased toward each otherto provide a clamping action of the portionsupon the opposite faces of the sweat band.

3. A hat retaining device comprising a sweat band attaching piece havingan outside portion with a bottom edge folded to provide a throughopening and a clamp portion depending from the upper edge adapted to fitover the sweat band and extend downwardly over the inner face thereof,an elastic band extending through the opening in the lower edge of theattaching piece and depending therefrom, said elastic band being adaptedto be stretched from the attaching piece when applied to the hat sweatband and downwardly over the ear lobe of the wearer, and an inner clampportion extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the outside portionand having parallel slits that extend downwardly from its upper edge tothe bottom of the outside portion through the bottom of which theelastic band can be slid to locate the elastic band within the openingthroughout a short distance thereof whereby the elastic band can beadjusted for a dilferent gripping action upon the ear of the wearer,-and said clamping portion having inner and outer clamp portionsresiliently biased toward each other to provide a clamping action of theportions upon the opposite faces of the sweat band, said clampingportions having cooperating indentations to provide further grippingaction upon the sweat band.

4. A hat retaining device comprising a sweat band attaching piece havingan outside portion with a bottom edge folded to provide a throughopening and a clamp portion depending from theupper edge adapted to fitover the sweat band and extend downwardly over the inner face thereof,an elastic band extending through the opening in the lower edge of theattaching piece and depending therefrom, said elastic band being adaptedto be stretched from the attaching piece when applied to the hat sweatband and downwardly over the earlobe of the wearer, and an inner clampportion extending upwardly from the bottom edge of the outside portionand having parallelslits that extend downwardly from its upper edge tothe bottom of the outside portion through the bottom of which theelastic band can be slid to locate the elastic band within the openingthroughout a short distance thereof whereby the elastic band'can beadjusted for a dilferent gripping action upon the ear of the wearer, andsaid clamping portion having inner and outer clamp portions resilientlybiased toward each other to provide a clamping action of the portionsupon the opposite faces of the sweat band, said clamping portions havingcooperating indentations to provide further gripping action upon thesweat band, and an upwardly extending clamping portion with serrationson the upper edge to engage with the face of the sweat band adjacent tothe indentations and to provide further means to prevent the detachmentof a holder piece from the sweat band as the hat is applied to the head.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS384,897 Drake June 19, 1888 862,328 Figg Aug. 6, 1907 1,005,591 BowerOct. 10, 1911 1,601,395 Ishiwata Sept. 28, 1926 1,613,416 Smith Jan. 4,1927

